Journey Off The Map Here We Go! VBS 2015

March 22, 2015

Have I mentioned how amazing my husband is? Yes, he is a great guy and I love him even more now than I did the first time we met. If I didn’t have my Dan, I wouldn’t be able to get as much done as I do. He is a blessing in my life for sure!

One cool thing that he does is that he volunteers at church to make the sets that are needed for our VBS. VBS is Vacation Bible School and it usually lasts for a week. The children learn lots of Biblical truths while they have fun. Ours usually is in June. This year, our church was asked to host one of the GA Statewide VBS Clinics.

Therefore, Dan had to get things ready a little early this year.

Which is great, because now we are going to get a headstart on things!!

Yippee!!

The theme this year is called JOURNEY OFF THE MAP. The setting is a tropical rainforest. Naturally, palm trees are something that need to be in the setting. Well…..MY MAN….DAN…..came up with a palm tree that I think looks awesome! So….for today’s post, I wanted to put in the instructions for it in case you wanted to try it for your VBS.

Here are his instructions:

I wanted to make palm trees for our ‘Journey Off The Map’ set. I looked at several ideas but really kind of wanted to do my own thing…..so….. I was walking through Lowes one Saturday looking for inspiration (I’m sure many of you do the same thing!) and saw these plastic pipes that are used as downspout extensions.

They were $6 each.

I thought they might be the perfect palm tree trunk if they were a different color, so I bought a couple of 10 foot sections and a can of spray paint that I felt might be an appropriate color for a palm tree trunk.

The Palm Tree Trunk1. I had lots of PVC pipe left over from last year’s VBS so I got out a Christmas Tree stand and put the PVC pipe in it.
2. I used a jigsaw to cut off 3 feet of the plastic pipe (I wanted 7 foot tall palm trees).
3. I slipped the plastic pipe over the PVC pipe and spray painted it. It looked exactly as I’d hoped it would! It had this natural curve that made it look very much like I wanted the palm tree trunk to look.

The Top of the Palm Tree
The idea of using an umbrella from the Decorating Made Easy Life Way book is brilliant! I checked Dollar Tree, Target, etc. and I finally located umbrellas for $5 at Walmart.
1. I decided to use the 3 foot leftover section of plastic pipe on another piece of PVC pipe on a Christmas Tree stand for my work space.
2. I had green butcher paper from church. I knew I needed a top and a bottom for each leaf, so I folded a piece of butcher paper and drew out a leaf.

3. I cut out the leaf. Since I had the paper layered I was able to cut out the top and bottom piece.
4. I cut off the fabric from the umbrella one section at a time.
5. I had a wide spool of masking tape and I attached one side of the butcher paper leaf to the top by reaching up with masking tape to attach the butcher paper from the bottom side to attach it to the umbrella arm.

6. Once I had a couple of pieces of masking tape holding the top leaf on the umbrella, I turned the umbrella upside down on the floor.

7. To make sure the leaves stuck out rather than lay flat and droopy I used masking tape to attach craft popsicle sticks all over the leaf to make sure the leaf didn’t sag.

8. Once I had plenty of craft popsicle sticks taped to the top section of the leaf it was time to put on the bottom section of the leaf. I used a regular glue stick to attach the bottom leaf to the top one with the popsicle sticks taped to it.

9. After I did the two butcher paper layered popsicle sticked leaves all the way around, I cut some small leaves and glued them on around the center of the umbrella to make it look better from below.

10. As a final touch I took some bright green paint and added vein lines to give the leaves a more realistic look.

11. I put a large rubber band close to the top of the plastic pipe and attached some chocolate brown balloons to resemble coconuts.

12. Then I just stuck the handle of the umbrella inside the plastic pipe and I had a great looking palm tree!

They really look great and didn’t cost that much to make. Many people were looking at them today at the Georgia VBS statewide clinic.

I hope you can make some as well for your Journey Off the Map VBS!!

Don’t hesitate to email us at: lbg415@bellsouth.net if you have ANY questions about it!

We will post other VBS Journey Off The Map things as we continue to prepare!! This is an area where we love to serve our church! Let us know about your ideas!! God bless you!!

Related

Hi! I am a kindergarten teacher who is passionate about her job! I am a christian woman who has been married for over 30 years. I have 2 terrific married children with awesome spouses! I also have a 9 year old and 5 month old granddaughter! I am truly blessed beyond measure!!